The present invention relates to information systems and, in particular, it concerns an information sensing and sharing system for real-time derivation and sharing of information during entry of teams of firefighters into buildings.
Even when fitted out with the most modern equipment and tools, the modern firefighter may often suffer from disorientation and lack of information when entering a burning building to rescue trapped people. The firefighter needs to know immediately, at all times, and with a high confidence level, the answers to a number of critical questions such as: Where am I? Where are the other members of my team? Where are the centers of the fire? The environment is typically full of various types of buildings, other firefighters, centers of the fire and civilians. Additionally, such situations are often characterized by rapidly developing situations in which lines of sight, ranges of visibility, ranges of transmission and evaluations of the situation may all change rapidly.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an information system for supporting rescue operations which would provide each firefighter with answers to some or all of his questions. Specifically, regarding the three basic questions mentioned above, it would preferably provide: relative and/or absolute information to each firefighter about his own position; relative and/or absolute information to each firefighter about the position of his team members, optionally according to criteria (such as limited to a certain number of firefighters or according to what equipment they are carrying); and relative and/or absolute information regarding the positions of the centers of the fire, optionally according to criteria (such as type and size). Most preferably, such a system would also address various other needs such as: facilitating spatial awareness within the building, identifying hidden spaces within which people may be trapped, identifying team members, coordinating efforts between firefighters to reach target locations, and all aspects of information management including collecting data, organizing data, sharing data and displaying data to the users, all in a manner suitable for the scenario of firefighters entering a burning building in order to rescue civilians while the fire continues to spread.